The Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education will meet Thursday to fill a vacant seat on the board after a candidate elected in November chose not to accept the seat. Alexandra Pais / New Jersey Local News Service

PARSIPPANY — A former Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education member who lost his bid for re-election in November has pulled his name out of consideration for a vacant board seat.

Frank Neglia, the former board vice president,
had initially put his name forward for the seat intended for Joanne Mancuso but pulled out after learning that
his running mate in the November election, Alison Cogan, had submitted
her name as well.

Parsippany voters elected Mancuso,
a former board member, Parsippany Police Capt. James Carifi and Dr.
Frank Calabria, the current
board president, to the board in the November election. However, Mancuso, who is not related to current board member Anthony Mancuso, later informed the board she would not accept a seat.

Joni Benos, administrative assistant to Superintendent LeRoy Seitz,
said three people had submitted their names to the board for
consideration of Mancuso's seat — Cogan, DeIntinis and Richard Gaydo —
while Neglia had pulled out of consideration.

In his withdrawal letter, Neglia said Cogan should be selected
to the board based on the results of this past election.

"Alison
was the next person in line according to the resulting number of votes
cast by the citizens of Parsippany," Neglia said in his letter. "She received 800 more
votes than I received and over 900 more votes than any other
opponent."

Cogan has attended "practically every board meeting over the last several years," Neglia said in his letter.

"The taxpayers/voters of Parsippany have made a clear indication of who
they wish to be in the Board of Education seat and as elected officials
it is very important to listen to them," Neglia said in his letter. "I
certainly have learned that fact during my six plus years of sitting on
the board. The people of Parsippany have made it clear that Alison
should be given the opportunity."

Neglia, however, has previously offered criticism of the last election.
Voter turnout was four times higher in November than a typical
Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education election, so many voters were
less informed about local issues and simply picked the names of the
first three candidates on the ballot — Carifi, Calabria and Mancuso,
Neglia said in November.

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Cogan,
a mother of five children, said she has more experience than any other
candidate since she previously ran a childcare center and has worked as a certified
public accountant for the past 15 years.

"I think when you look
at my experience and my commitment to education over the past two years
I think it's pretty clear that I'm the most qualified," Cogan said.